Dow Dives Nearly 300 Points as Trump Ratchets Up China Trade Fight

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined sharply on Tuesday, falling for a sixth straight session, as President Donald Trump issued new trade threats against China. The Dow's decline marked the index's longest losing streak since March 2017.

The Dow is now almost 2,000 points below its all-time high reached in late January.

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U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, June 19, and global stocks were hit hard after Donald Trump threatened to unleash a fresh round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from China in the latest escalation of trade war rhetoric between the world's two biggest economies.

Trump said a 10% levy would apply "after the legal process is complete" if China "refuses to change its practices, and also if it insists on going forward with the new tariffs that it has recently announced," a reference to Beijing's intent to match a list of $50 billion worth of goods now subject to tariffs from Washington. China called Trump's latest salvo "blackmail" and said trade wars would harm "not just the people of China and the U.S. but all over the world."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 287 points, or 1.15%, to 24,700. The S&P 500 fell 0.40% and the Nasdaq tumbled 0.26%.

"We are at a very delicate point in trade tension," said Dec Mullarkey, managing director of investment strategies at Sun Life Investment Management. "If the next move is aggressive, the consequences will be damaging to both countries and to global trade and growth. Central banks would also have to reconsider any rate increases."

The Trump administration has told Apple Inc. (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook that it wouldn't place tariffs on iPhones, which are assembled in China, The New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the talks.

Cook visited Trump last month to warn him that tough talk on China could threaten Apple's position in the country. Apple is worried China could retaliate in ways that hurt its business, according to three people close to Apple, the Times reported.

Apple has sold more iPhones in China than it has in the U.S. for the past three years and relies on mainland Chinese sales for around 20% of its nearly $200 billion in annual revenue.